Any man who is married knows that a woman does more than just provide companionship. She fundamentally bestows a sense of sanity for the man. Men, by nature, are instinctual, tribalistic, ego-driven, competitive to a fault, aggressive – all of which lead to less than stellar judgment and can push a man to an unhealthy lifestyle. A woman is kind of like a check and balance for a man. She sensitizes him, creates counter-values to his instincts, tempers his ego, guides his judgment, and a lot more. But this is only and only if the man is willing to listen.
This creed is so clear in the Torah for a man to heed his wife – it’s interwoven throughout almost every narrative. Just one example is when Avraham and his wife were arguing about a seemingly contentious issue, G-d Himself comes down and commands Avraham to listen to his wife. The Torah is not a storybook – it’s a value system. And this value to be open to a woman’s influence is supreme.
But a woman’s ability to serve as a counter-balance to a man’s inherent toxic tendencies can only be effective if the man can actually listen to his wife. Not that he has to always concur. But he has to listen and take what she says with complete gravity.
This brings us to the Middle East. Oftentimes I think the Middle East is such a chaotic place because in large parts of the culture women are not respected. And they definitely don’t need to be heeded. So you have an entire region which is run on a man’s natural mode of being, which we can see, when bereft of a woman’s voice, can be very destructive.
2021